In the age of viral trailers, AI-edited clips, and satire pages masquerading as film insiders, it has become increasingly difficult to separate genuine announcements from elaborate internet fiction. Social media thrives on cinematic-looking claims, especially when they involve A-list stars and controversial real-life figures. Recently, one such film announcement began circulating at lightning speed, drawing massive attention and leaving audiences divided.

The post in question featured a dramatic trailer and a bold premise of Charlie with Chris Pratt as Charlie Kirk in it, which quickly went viral, sparking confusion, outrage, and curiosity in equal measure. Before taking it at face value, however, it is worth slowing down and examining the claim itself.

The short answer is that the film is not real. The viral post originated from a satire account of the famous Discussing Films called DiscussingFish, which regularly shares fictional movie announcements and parody trailers. The page is known for fabricating dramatic film concepts using real actors and public figures, often presenting them in the exact visual language of legitimate studio marketing.

“New trailer for ‘CHARLIE’, starring Chris Pratt as Charlie Kirk. The film follows the last 90 minutes of Charlie Kirk’s life before being killed. In theaters January 23,” the viral post claimed. The trailer footage used in the viral clip was lifted from a real, unrelated movie of Chris Pratt called Mercy, which even the watermark on the top left mentions. 

The post, in essence, is a pure satire that escaped its original context and was taken literally by a large section of the internet. Interestingly, the joke did not come out of nowhere. Ever since Charlie Kirk was k------, he became a polarizing public figure, and conspiracy-driven narratives around him began circulating online. While what DiscussingFish called a trailer for Charlie is a sham, it is still true.

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Charlie itself does not exist, but the trailer was from Mercy, an upcoming project of Chris Pratt. Here is everything you need to know about the same.

Chris Pratt does have a genuine film project on the way titled Mercy, a science-fiction action thriller directed by Timur Bekmambetov. The first official trailer for Mercy was released in late 2025, and the film is currently scheduled to hit theaters on January 23, 2026. The cast includes Chris Pratt in the lead role, alongside Rebecca Ferguson, Annabelle Wallis, Kali Reis, and Chris Sullivan.

In Mercy, Pratt plays a former detective who is falsely accused of a violent crime in a near-future society governed by an advanced AI justice system. With only hours to prove his innocence before the system delivers an irreversible sentence, the film blends dystopian sci-fi with high-stakes action and surveillance-driven paranoia.

The project marks another collaboration between Pratt and big-budget genre filmmaking, following his recent work in The Terminal List and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but with a darker, more grounded tone focused on technology and institutional power.

For Chris Pratt, whose recent sci-fi film with Millie Bobby Brown, The Electric State, drew headlines after receiving multiple Razzie nominations, Mercy represents a tonal reset and a new creative chapter. Although it remains entirely unrelated to Charlie Kirk or the viral Charlie rumor.

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Did the Charlie trailer fool you at first? Share your thoughts in the comments.